Burger King robbery foiled after employees run out of the building

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SPEEDWAY, Ind.-- A robbery attempt at a Burger King in Speedway didn’t go as planned after employees in the restaurant ran out the doors, leaving the would-be robbers to walk away empty handed.

The incident occurred on Sunday at 11:45 a.m.Security video from the Burger King in the 6300 block of Crawfordsville Road shows two men calmly walk up to the restaurant before entering and pulling handguns. One of the men wore a dark-colored hoodie and hat pulled down low on his head. The other individual wore a distinctive tan jacket with cream-colored fur lining.That person also wore a long blonde wig during the robbery attempt.

Security video from Sunday at 11:45 a.m. shows two individuals trying to rob the Crawfordsville Rd. Burger King in Speedway.

One of the men jumped the counter as the other man entered an employee door to get back into the kitchen area. However, before the pair could get into the kitchen area, the five employees in the restaurant were already running for the doors.

Assistant Manager Tyhana Pickens said one of the Burger King employees had seen the two men entering the restaurant and observed one of the men struggling to pull a handgun from his pocket.Pickens said the employee immediately alerted his coworkers.

Surveillance video shows the Burger King employees sprinting out a back door to escape. Another camera angle shows an employee hiding behind an office door before running out the main front entrance to the restaurant.

Within moments, the would-be robbers were left alone in the kitchen area with nobody to help them steal any money.

“The guys didn’t get any money because everybody was gone by the time,” Pickens said.“After everybody ran, they stood at the back door and they both just walked off.”

Speedway Police Lt. Jim Thiele says he doesn’t always condone running away from a robbery attempt. In this case, the employees were able to escape to safety while foiling the robbery attempt.

“When they realized that there were no employees left to assist them in completing the robbery, they fled the store themselves,” Thiele said.

Pickens said normal procedure would be to cooperate with somebody robbing the restaurant. Since employees had an early warning about the gun, they had enough time to run to safety. She says she’s just glad nobody was injured.

“They were scared out of the world, but nobody got hurt,” Pickens said.

Security video also showed a man and a child eating in the dining area of the restaurant during the incident. The two never encountered the would-be robbers and appeared unaware of the incident entirely.

At some point during the incident, the blonde wig came off the man who was wearing it. A video camera on the back of the restaurant showed the wig was gone as the two men walked away.

“We’re just hoping that someone might be able to recognize the people or the clothing they’re wearing and might be able to help us in figuring out who these suspects are,” Thiele said. “Because we definitely want to get them off the streets.”

Anyone with information about the individuals in the video above can contact the Speedway Police Department at (317) 246-4300 or Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS.